


A Broken Heart Scorched Anew

by kibasniper



Category: Mortal Kombat (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Canon, Betrayal, Execution, F/F, Fire, Imprisonment, Lost Love, Memories, Other, Outworld (Mortal Kombat), Past Jade/Kotal Kahn, Past Relationship(s), Past Tanya/Mileena, Suggestive Themes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:07:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24403294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kibasniper/pseuds/kibasniper
Summary: Rain burns alive before her very eyes, but for Tanya, it's a needed sacrifice. It's what Mileena would have wanted.
Relationships: Tanya & Kotal Kahn
Kudos: 6





	A Broken Heart Scorched Anew

“You can’t do this to me! I’m a god! Do you hear me? You’ll face the wrath of Argus!” Rain shrieks as the fire is lit.

“No, Rain,” Kotal announces, Erron stepping back after throwing the match on to the straw, “there are no gods here who will stoop so low to help you.”

As soon as the fire catches on Rain’s boots, Tanya wishes she could cover her ears. The first screech is always the loudest. Her eardrums ache when Rain throws his head back and roars, the flames consuming him. His tunic catches, his skin blistering and bubbling, but while it provides a show for the giggling Ferra and snorting Reptile, Tanya keeps her head bowed by Kotal’s side, the chains around her wrists jingling louder than his death throes.

“Traitor! You traitor!” Rain screams as the flames cover him from head to toe. He lashes out at her with every Edenian curse in the tomes she had devoured as a child. He writhes and cries, but his tears are dried as the fire bakes him alive. His breath is stolen from him, and he is only able to bellow at the one who had forsaken him to save her own skin, which glimmers with sweat from standing underneath the oppressive Outworld sun while his own melts, gathering on the straw on sludgy strips.

After what feels like a millenia, Rain’s howling dies down. Erron scoffs, asking if Ermac should steal his soul to end his suffering. Ermac replies that he has no need for one as treacherous as Rain. She wonders if she should take that as a compliment considering what had led them all to this moment.

She only looks when he is silenced. When only the crackling flames remain, she gazes upon his corpse. His clothing and mask fall away in charred patches. What little hair that remains on his skull crack off before they are burned to nothingness. His jaw has dropped, his tongue and teeth inflamed before melting down the bone of what should have been his chin, and Tanya closes her eyes, knowing that could have been her fate.

“It is done,” Kotal says, nodding. She snaps her attention to him when he glances down at her. “For bringing Rain to me, you will live, but restitution must be paid. Don’t expect too much leniency after aligning yourself with Mileena and spending several years waging war with the people of Outworld.”

Tanya swallows the urge to sneer that Mileena should have remained as Kahn, that she would have freed Edenia. One glance at Rain’s corpse confirms her decision to remain silent. She nods, keeping her lips sealed shut as Kotal crosses his arms, inspecting her every move.

“Let Ferra smash pretty lady’s head! Rip out her guts!” Ferra gushes, madness coating every word.

“No. She will not be killed, not after providing the location of her cohort,” Kotal reprimands, Ferra huffing like a spoiled child. He leers at her, his massive frame blocking out the sun when she wills herself to meet his eyes. “You will be imprisoned for your crimes against the people of Outworld in my dungeon. There, you will learn.”

She fights the temptation to demand to know what he means. Ermac seizes her shoulder, nearly causing her to slip on her own two feet. Reptile crosses to them and snatches her other arm, a wicked glint in his eyes. She curls her lip at him, but inciting the Emperor's wrath could signal for her death in a manner much more gruesome than the one she gladly betrayed, forcing her to keep her dissent to herself.

Kotal marches her across the base. She avoids the wandering, lurking glares of the Outworlders. Some hurl insults from their ladders and workstations, halting their duties on another temple dedicated to Kotal to bask in her humiliation. Others laugh and cheer, praising Kotal’s name as he raises his head high, the sunlight above them making him glow like an archangel, one whom Tanya would have gladly cleaved in two.

She imagines better days as the dungeon draws near. Sharp fingernails graze her shoulders and glide down her back. Pointed fangs nip her neck, and soft lips meet hers. Mileena’s eyes twinkle like the stars they would observe on cool nights, and Tanya dips her head, smiling as Mileena threads through her jet black locks, clipping stray ears behind her ears, murmuring her name.

“I must ask why,” Kotal interjects, snapping her back to reality.

Tanya observes her surroundings. She wrinkles her nose as copper and urine waft around her. She ignores the corpses and starved bodies in various cells, each secured with unbreakable bars. The walls are painted with blood, Osh-Tekk symbols decorating the otherwise bland interior of metallic brown walls and unlit lanterns.

“Why?” she repeats, tilting her head.

“I know you are treacherous. Deceiving anyone to further your own goals makes you who you are,” he says, his voice rumbling like an earthquake, “but to willingly surrender to me after all this time and provide the demigod to me, I must know why.”

“That’s certainly a loaded question,” she replies, a wrinkle forming in Kotal’s brow. She notices Erron shifting his hand towards his revolver and hears Torr crack his knuckles behind her. She knows their threats will push her to answer, so she straightens her back and says, “You’re like me, Kotal. You would have done anything for your beloved.”

Her words send a shiver down his spine. How his face breaks in an instant almost makes her shriek with laughter. Mileena would have loved to see the shock stretching his jaw and widening his eyes, if only she still lived.

A name forms in his mouth. He utters it with reverence, the soft tone reserved only for her. Kotal raises his hand and turns, his eyes lost and unfocused. As he commands them to place Tanya in the cell, Kotal squares his shoulders and pushes passed her, his expression hardening much like his heart.

His loyal subjects waste no time. Erron slips a key out from his pocket and jabs it into the socket on the closest cell. Reptile shoves her forward when he yanks the door open, the creaking of the metal assaulting her ears. He slams it shut, and Erron locks it when she stumbles to her feet. Ferra waves at her as they follow their Kahn, their footsteps heavy until they, like everything else in Tanya’s life, vanish.

Alone with her thoughts, Tanya lies down on the slab of wood her captors dare call a bed. She crosses her legs and taps her heel into the wall. The rhythmic bouncing keeps her company until she drifts off, Rain’s screams echoing in the back of her head, and as her heart slows, she dreams of the future which should have belonged to her khanum.


End file.
